A variety of types of simple passive mooring systems are known, which anchor a ship or a buoy in the ocean, and in particular in relatively shallow regions close to a coast line. A conventional mooring system will be understood to include a passive anchor placed on the bottom of the ocean, and a rope, cable, and/or a chain, which couples the anchor to the ship or buoy, keeping the ship or buoy generally at the same position.
Some types of conventional mooring systems are more complex. Particularly mooring systems that are used in deeper water, for example, greater than five hundred feet, may also include sub-surface floats coupled to the rope, cable, and/or chain in order to lift a portion of the rope, cable, and/or chain that would otherwise lay on the bottom of the ocean.
Some types of conventional mooring systems used to moor a ship are deployed from the ship, wherein the anchor is dropped into the water and the anchor pulls the rope, cable, and/or chain into the water at relatively high speed as it drops to the ocean bottom.
Some types of conventional mooring systems used to moor a buoy rather than a ship are also deployed from a ship, wherein the anchor is dropped into the water and the anchor pulls the rope, cable, and/or chain into the water at relatively high speed as it drops to the ocean bottom. The rope, cable, and/or chain is coupled to the buoy. The buoy can be manually deployed into the water with a crane or the like.
It will be recognized that the deployment of a mooring system and associated buoy, and, in particular, the associated rope, cable, and/or chain, can be cumbersome, time consuming, and dangerous. Manual deployment of the rope, cable, and/or chain can also result in tangles.